


And the Haunted Mansion

by stay_off_my_lawn



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: F/F, Halloween, old witch trope, superfriends elementary school AU
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-31
Updated: 2018-12-19
Packaged: 2019-08-11 02:40:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,132
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16467137
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stay_off_my_lawn/pseuds/stay_off_my_lawn
Summary: Veered slightly off theprompt: “Okay so I was dared to go into this haunted house, and not only is it not haunted, a nice old lady and her really pretty granddaughter live here and they invited me over for dinner next week”But here you go, Happy Halloween!





	1. The Bet

**Author's Note:**

> Apparently Halloween is the only deadline I have a hope of meeting (and in this case not even so) - 
> 
> This one has been tumbling around the back burner for a while now, and apparently does not want to end. Here is part 1 for now. Will try to have Part 2 up in a couple of days in case the world ends next Tuesday.

_“Oh my, is this really as fast as you can run? Lena, how embarrassing.”_

Even with the rest of the world drowned out by the pounding of her heartbeat and the desperate drags of air into her lungs, the cruel disapproval of her mother somehow still manages to slice through clear as day. Shaking the self reprimand out of her head, Lena urges her tiny body to run faster yet.

For once this isn’t about proving her worth to the Luthors. No, this is much, much more important. Kara - the one constant in her world that is bright and good - Kara is in danger and she needs help. Come on. Faster!

 

***** *****

 

Little Lena Luthor tucked herself away, all-the-way away in the back of the playground. She had hoped that if she ignored the problem hard enough, it will get offended and ignore her right back. So she buried herself in her latest Sandbox Masterpiece – today’s episode will explore her vision for the future Lex Corp headquarters – perfecting every little detail so the building stands tall over Metropolis just like the Watchtower guards over Earth. But alas, the instant she had distracted herself enough to push all thoughts of the looming threat from her head, is the instant it appeared as if summoned.

“There you are Baby Luthor.”

Her looming threat, namely one Veronica Sinclair, approached, deliberately slow and menacing, casting a dark, ominous shadow over everything in her path.

“You had me wasting half of my recess looking everywhere for you. No matter for now, but we will get back to that later.” Just the sound of that deceptively sweet voice alone sucked all the warmth out of the surrounding air. “What are you going to do now that Big Brother Lexie got shipped off to boarding school? Who are you going to hide behind now?”

Be still, don’t react. Don’t ever let them see you weak. Lena hadn’t lived with the Luthors for long, but already some of their “teachings” have become a reflex, a protective coat of armor. Clenching her jaw to stop the quivering, Lena pulled herself up into her full height. She may only be a couple of feet tall now, but her defiant glare had quickly become a close mirror of Lillian Luthor’s, and even the scary Veronica Sinclair was forced to take a step back.

True to her form though, Veronica recovered in the blink of an eye, and with a renewed frightening gleam of glee in her eyes, she tsked, “Aww, don’t tell me you’re scared already. We haven’t even gotten started.”

Even though Lena only came up to the older girl’s chest, she made sure to hold eye contact, and compelled in her best cold, commanding voice, “Leave me alone.”

=

“Here you go now Muffins! Don’t even worry about it buddy, we’ll try again tomorrow! You’ll get the hang of it in no time!” Kara Danvers gently placed the baby bird back in its nest and gave it a little encouraging pat on the head before making her way back down the tree.

The thing about unlimited optimism like Kara’s is that one never needed to worry about the implications of realistic probabilities. So even though it’s already November and most of Muffin’s siblings, and the leaves themselves, have left the tree, Kara had no doubt in her mind that her favorite little hatchling would learn to fly before the real cold set in.

_I said, leave me alone!_

Kara’s ears perked up as if she had some sort of super hearing and picked out her best friend’s voice from all the way across the playground. She could instantly tell that something was wrong by the tone of Lena’s voice. Squinting off in that direction, she zeroed in on Veronica looming intimidatingly over poor Lena. Her mind went blank and she must have flown the rest of the way because the next thing she knew, Kara had wedged herself protectively between the school bully and her dear friend.

“Yeah! She said, leave her alone!” Kara said defiantly, chest puffed out and hands fisted at her waist - a rare display of confidence for the normally timid child – in fact, if she had a cape, it would surely be billowing heroically in the wind.

“Well, well, well. Looky what we have here. Another wannabe superhero. Tell me Kara, did Clark have to teach you how to stick your nose in other people’s business, or is that just a family trait?” Veronica taunted, not even remotely rattled by Kara’s sudden appearance.

“You should know, or did you already forget how my sister kicked your butt this summer?” Kara countered brazenly without even skipping a beat, surprising the entire playground but herself most of all. She had no idea where this fire in her came from, she just knew she would do anything to protect Lena.

That jab must have hit a nerve because Kara watched in slow motion as Veronica’s face paled and the cheshire smile on her face grew dangerously predatory.

Just as her survival instincts started blaring warning bells in the back of her mind, she was overtaken by the smell of flowers and sunshine, and the rest of the world faded away. Lena, who must have noticed the same warning signs, because Lena is so much smarter and more observant than she is, had placed a reassuring hand on her elbow and whispered close to her ear, “stronger together.”

They shared a quick look. Ok, maybe not quick, but a look of abject trust and unconditional support. Holding on to each other’s hands, they squared their shoulders and faced the dangers ahead together.

Back in real time, Veronica had opened her mouth, intended to spew more venom no doubt, but before she could do so, the school bell rung, signaling the end of recess and shattering the tension of the moment.

“Ha!” Veronica barked humorlessly, “Saved by the bell. Aren’t we a cliché? I’m not done with you two yet. Either, of you.” For extra emphasis she leveled her glare at each girl. “We finish this at the flagpole after the last bell, and you had better be there.”

“Count on it.” Kara spat out before Lena can stop her.

 

***** *****

 

“ALEX!” Lena is surprised she still has enough breath left to yell out those two syllables before collapsing against the fence at the Danvers’. At the sound of Alex rushing out of the house, Lena barely manages to lift her arm up and point in the direction of the Old Witch’s house and utter “Kara!” between ragged breaths.

That simple gesture alone apparently already gives Alex enough to connect some of the dots and immediately spring into action. “Come on Maggie!” She calls back into the house, already sprinting halfway across the yard to her BMX. “Lena, hop on with me. We’ll grab James and Winn on the way.”

“Now tell me, exactly what kind of trouble did Kara get herself into this time?”

=

“A little higher James. Good. Now swivel it 32 degrees to the right. No, no, your right. Perfect! All right, we are in business!”

A couple houses down, the trio finds Winn sitting in the middle of Mr Jone’s front yard with his head hunched over his tablet and James climbing down from the lattice fence that separates the yard from Miss Morse’s.

“Do we even want to know?” Maggie asks, looking skeptically at the rest of the electrical equipment littered about Mr Jone’s yard.

“What? No! It’s nothing bad. Ms Morses’ morning papers have been getting stolen and we’re trying to help.” James says as if that explains any of this.

“Wait, if Ms Morses’ paper is the one getting stolen, why are you guys setting up surveillance on Mr Jone’s yard?” Maggie asks, not missing a beat. 

“Well, this way we can show Mr Jones who the bad guy is and let him swoop in to save her day. Duh!” Winn chiming in.

Before Maggie can get another question in and this completely de-escalates into a full blown spy-ops argument, “People!” Alex calls and refocuses their attention, “Kara!”

“Right! Come on boys! We got a damsel to save!” Maggie announces, already starting to paddle away.

=

Lena marvels at how fast Alex is able to paddle even with the weight of a whole extra person on her bike. “So how bad is it really? She doesn’t really eat children. Right?” The dreaded question finally spills out of Lena after a couple minutes of riding in silence. A couple minutes that feels like an eternity with that giant brain of hers churning through unending nightmarish scenarios, each one worse than the one before. She feels physically nauseous just imagining poor Kara walking into the creepy, decrepit house by herself. 

Rationally, Lena knows that she is too old to believe that an old lady in her town is actually a cannibal, or a witch for that matter, but with nothing else to go on besides the urban legends and scary stories she’s been inundated with all of October, damn that cursed holiday, she has nothing else to fill in the blanks with.

“You mean, you’ve lived in National City for how long now and haven’t heard the harrowing and sordid tale of the Trespassers - Will mansion?” Maggie asks incredulously.

“No no no. Let me tell it! Let me tell it!” Winn clamors.

“Fine,” Maggie acquiesces, knowing when to pick her battles.

“Imagine if you will,” Winn begins, channeling his fancy British documentary narrator voice, “the old Trespassers - Will house in the prime of her day - a grand Victorian dame, standing three-stories high with a majestic turret tower that overlooks the entire town and a gorgeous bay window of the finest hand-crafted stained glass; and when you look closer you can spot all the intricate details that we don’t see in modern homes anymore, the painstaking touches on the floral patterns, the decorative shingles…”

“Winn…” Alex interrupts.

“Right! Sorry! I’m just saying - she must have been quite a beauty back in the day, and the family was happy too. The kids would play in the front yard, while their parents watched lovingly from the porch. Things were absolutely picture perfect. That is, until the day they found Silver Banshee, or as the story goes, the day Silver Banshee found them.

As the story goes, the ominous grey cat followed Little Leslie home one day and never left. To this day, no one can agree on what happened after that. Some say, they tried to give Silver Banshee away and that’s what triggered her wrath and the tragedy that came after. Others will swear that the cat was the Devil herself and the family never stood a chance.

Either way, it was as if the demon cat sucked the life out of the family and the house. One by one they started getting sick, each succumbing to one rare illness after another. None of the doctors in town, or even the big shots who had traveled all the way from Metropolis, could figure it out. Young Leslie is the only one left now. And they said that Silver Banshee is only keeping her alive to do her bidding, you know like kidnapping children and small animals to sustain its life force. And as the years wore on, Leslie was eventually driven to madness.“

Right on cue, the gang rounds a corner and the once majestic house emerges into view - overgrown with ivy; droopy, crooked, and askew; propped up by the sheer force of what could only be some sort of dark magic. Even in the warm glow of the afternoon sun, Lena is surprised Winn was able to pick out as much detail in the architecture as he did. As they continue to approach, she finds that even looking directly at the house itself for too long is giving her the creeps.

 

***** *****

 

_Flagpole after the last bell. Flagpole after the last bell._

The rest of the day, Lena would replay Veronica’s dangerous smirk and ominous promise in her head whenever she needed an extra push. She had been calculating all the possible impossible challenges Veronica could put them through, and was making herself come up with at least two viable exit strategies and an extra contingency loophole for each, just to be safe. But even then, by the time the last class came to an end and the last bell rang forebodingly, she was still not feeling certain that either her or Kara, sweet, brave Kara, could come out of this unscathed.

As she filed out of the classroom behind the rest of the class, the only thought in her head was getting to the flagpole and keeping Kara safe, no matter the cost - Lena was just an orphan, if anything happened to her no one will miss her any ways. 

“Lena, are you feeling quite ok?” Ms. Rhea asked, stepping between her and the door. “You were unusually inattentive today.”

“Yes, Ms. Rhea. I’m sorry. I think I’m just a bit tired from staying up late to work on my project for the science fair. I promise I’ll pay better attention tomorrow.”

“Oh I have no doubt in my star student,” Ms. Rhea was quick to assure her with a wink. “I just want to make sure everything is ok with you since you are rarely not in tip top shape. But now that you bring up the science fair, can you stay for a few minutes to catch me up on your progress?”

And so, reluctantly, Lena was forced to stay, for fourteen, whole, minutes. 

She was feverish with anxiety by the time she had sprinted out of the science wing all the way to the flagpole. And of course only to find the entire courtyard devoid of life. Neither Kara nor Veronica was anywhere to be seen, and what crowd there would have been seemed to have dissipated as well. 

“You missed all the fun.” Vasquez appeared from the shade and sauntered towards her, toothpick dangling from their mouth. 

Lena uncharacteristically lunged at Vasquez like they were her lifeline and shook them by their collar, “What happened?! Where is Kara!?”

With the same air of nonchalance, Vasquez answered, “Well since you never showed, Veronica dared Kara to go into the Old Witch’s house and steal a flower from her backyard, and she accepted.”

 

***** *****

 

As the gang approaches the house, a lone skeletal figure slowly comes into view. Funny, now that she is surrounded with friends by her side, Lena doesn’t find Veronica as scary anymore. If anything, she looks a bit sad really, standing here all by herself after what is surely some kind of twisted triumph. 

“You’re too late. She already went inside.” Veronica announced with a sneer, vicious and victorious as she had undoubtedly sent one of the best people in the world into certain death, or at least into enough trauma to scar a lifetime. 

Whatever pity or clarity Lena had briefly started to feel towards Veronica immediately evaporates as her thoughts turned to what that girl did to her best friend - who is quite possibly the embodiment of everything good in the world. At the thought of confronting Veronica head on, Lena is soon uncontrollably shaking with rage and a sense of helpless injustice by the time the gang comes to a stop in front of the gates and Veronica.

Lena doesn’t get a chance to act before Alex growls angrier than Lena has ever seen her, “Leave, now.” Alex warns, knowing that the rest of her threat does not need to be said.

 

_Aaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh_

An ear piercing scream, Kara’s ear piercing scream, erupts from the house and Lena is in motion before she even realizes.


	2. The Tea Party

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry to keep you all waiting!! 
> 
> I know this is a whole month and some bits behind. I'm absolutely rubbish at this WIP business. Thanks for sticking with this. We're almost there!

_KARA!_

At the sound of her name and what can only be an oncoming stampede, Kara cautiously pokes her head out of the kitchen, and replies, “Yes?”

She is immediately forced back into the room as a very, very concerned Alex charges in head first, quickly followed by Lena, then Maggie and Winn, and the back of James as he walks backwards into the kitchen, making sure nothing is following them.

“Super friends!” Kara exclaims, but before she forms her next thought she is smothered by an onslaught of questions,

“What happened?”  
“Did she get you?!”  
“Wouldn’t the kitchen be the worst place to hide?”  
“Are you all right?”  
“Where is the Old Witch?”

Kara would put her hand up to get the group to calm down so she can try to explain, but suddenly Lena is in front of her, carefully looking her over and gently patting her down like they do on TV when they’re making sure someone isn’t hurt - and Kara’s brain just stops. Meanwhile James, Winn, and Maggie have each taken up a section of the kitchen and are busy pouring over every inch of it - opening every single cabinet and drawer and inspecting the contents, poking their heads into all the spider-webby nooks and crannies. For her part, Alex stands vigilant against the open kitchen door like she’s expecting something to come bursting in at any time.

Kara knows they are all terrified by the same urban legends that she grew up hearing, but she is certain that once they meet Ms. Leslie they’ll be able to see for themselves that she can’t possibly be a children-eating witch!

To be honest, she wasn’t entirely sure what she had gotten herself into when she first took on Veronica’s dare to come to the Old, eh, Ms. Leslie’s, house, but Jeremiah has always reminded her to give people the benefit of the doubt, and choosing to believe in people has never steered her wrong. Not even today. Ms. Leslie turns out to be the kindest old lady ever. She even introduces Kara to Banshee, the fluffy grey cat who is super friendly and cuddly, and nothing like the horrible monster in the stories that James and Winn used to scare her with. On top of all that, now all her friends have suddenly appeared, just in time for them to all have tea together!

The question is, just how will she convince them that everything is okay? They never listen, especially not when they all have their We Are Worried About You! faces on.

“Super friends! You came just in time! Ms. Leslie is putting on a tea party in the backyard. Come!”

Settling on the fact that showing is probably much easier than convincing, Kara agilely ducks out of their reach and bolts out of the kitchen, leaving behind a trail of exasperation,

“What?!”  
“Not again!”  
“WAIT”  
“Don’t get eaten!”  
“Kara!”

 

=

 

Lena follows the gang chasing Kara through house and out the narrow set of French doors into the backyard. It is pretty much exactly as she would imagine, dried and crumbly, withered and overrun, much like the rest of the property. Yet in the middle of it all lies a bright picnic blanket, on top of which spreads an incredible feast of what Lena knows to be every single one of Kara’s favorite snacks: cupcakes, rhubarb pies, totinos rolls, potstickers, and so much more.

“Look at all this food that Ms. Leslie just threw together! I can’t believe she has so much food lying around the house for just herself and Banshee!” Kara announces from her spot on the blanket as the group approaches, beaming that inexplicably infectious smile of hers. Lena doesn’t get a chance to respond before Kara turns to Ms. Leslie and promptly jumps into introductions, “Ms Leslie! These are my favoritest people in the world: my sister Alex, best friends Lena, James, Winn, and Maggie! They don’t normally barge into people’s homes uninvited like this, but they must have been really worried about me. Everyone, this is Ms. Leslie!”

“What a nice surprise! It is no trouble at all. Welcome my dears, so very nice to meet you all. Come, join us! As you can see, I have made too much food. The more the merrier!” Ms. Leslie - who looks thoroughly shriveled like everything around her, is an itty bitty lady barely the size of the Lena herself, with a head of stark white hair that is easily as overgrown as some of the hedges - flashes them a warm, welcoming smile.

The group stands dumbfounded. Never once did they think they might turn out to be the villains in this story, blindly believing in all those horrible rumors and trespassing this poor sweet lady’s home. Lena is the first to break the spell and offers her apologies and thanks as she settles down next to Kara. Old Witch or not - and Lena remains unconvinced either way - Ms. Leslie is their host nonetheless, and whatever the Luthors may be, they did not raise Lena to be rude.

Everyone else sheepishly follows suit and settles down around the food. As soon as the last butt touches the picnic blanket, Lena can hear the moment Kara's patience and restraint crack as she physically dives head in. Lena tsks to herself, _So much for faerie rules_.

Within seconds, James and Kara have both managed to pile stacks of food as tall as themselves on their plates; Winn and Maggie has lured Ms. Leslie into regaling old local gossip, with Alex happily nodding along; and Lena does what she does best and just watches.

With one ear loosely keeping track on the conversations around the party, Lena tries to recall as many details as possible from when they searched the house for Kara. Sure Ms. Leslie’s house looks like a recuse project at a glance, but the parts that appear to be frequently used are clean and tidy; and the woman’s clothes are of great quality, old, but well mended and well kept. Most importantly, there were no signs of children eating-ness – whatever that would even look like.

As more and more pieces fit into the puzzle, an unsettling thought kicks in - what if they really were wrong? What if the entire town has been wrong about this sweet old lady all this time, and she is just managing as well as she can alone all these years? And Lena knows about alone.

 

But something lurks just beyond the corner of her mind, a dot she has forgotten to connect.

 

=

 

As the mood of the group continues to lighten up, even the colors in the yard seem to get a bit more live in them. Lena smiles and takes a sip of the kale smoothie in her hands. _Wait, where did this come from?_ she wonders in passing, before sliding seamlessly into the conversation at hand, “Yes Maggie, you have to tell her about That time.”

“Ooo yeah, I swear, people all the way in Metropolis could hear Winn’s scream!” Kara chimes in between mouthfuls of food.

Scream.

The missing connection dawns on Lena like that bucket of iced cold water from the ASL challenge. _There are literally a million explanations_ , she tries to rationalize, but her gut knows better. Lena looks up from her plate of food to see if anyone has noticed her sudden change in demeanor, and ends up making eye contact with Banshee. The fluffy cat gives her a knowing look as though she has read Lena’s thoughts - and winks.

Utterly panicked now, Lena urgently turns to Kara and whispers in her ear, “Kara, earlier this afternoon before we found you in the kitchen, why did you scream?”

“What do you mean? * _yawn_ * Excuse me.” Kara replies nonchalantly as she reaches for a handful of nachos, “When? You know I don't scream easily. * _yaaaawn_ * Oh boy! I must have eaten too quickly again. This food coma is really hitting me all of a sudden. Don’t mind me, I’m just going to put my head down for a second, ok?”

Lena stares horrified as Kara immediately slumps over onto her lap. Normally she would be thrilled. There’s something about the way Kara trusts her unconditionally and is always so free with physical contact that brings a warm comfort to Lena - except these are extenuating circumstances. Extenuating circumstances! When she looks up the rest of the group has fared no better, each slumped over one way or another. All passed out with a peaceful look on their face. Right on cue, her own body kicks off its own shut down process as well. Her thoughts are getting more slippery by the nano-second and her eyelids insists on staying shut no matter how hard she fights. But she can’t. They’re in danger, Ms. Leslie and Banshee…

Before Lena loses the battle, the last thing she sees is Ms. Leslie and Banshee looking over the sleeping children with giant shiny eyes, matching ravenous looks, and smiles that are way too big for either of their faces...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Could this be it for the SuperFriends?!  
> Are our tiny heros-in-the-making finally done in by a picnic?!  
> Stay tuned!! 
> 
>  
> 
> I'm going to try to steal away some time during the holidays to wrap this up.


End file.
